Document Type
Report
Study Date
1995
Abstract
Long Pond, South Basin receives nutrient inputs from a variety of sources, including roads, construction projects, logging practices, and human waste from subsurface waste disposal systems. If any of these sources are near tributaries or the shoreline, the nutrients can be easily transported into the lake itself. The lake is also used recreationally for boating, fishing and swimming, and is utilized as a source of drinking water for seasonal shoreline residences. The watershed contains the Mt. Vernon and Belgrade transfer stations, and the dump has been capped at each of these stations.
Historically, Long Pond, South Basin has not suffered from summer algal blooms, but increases in development in the watershed will put greater stress on the ecosystem, and may disrupt the balance of natural nutrient cycling enough to induce future problems, including algal blooms. The south basin will also be affected by activities and changes in other lakes of the interconnected Belgrade Lakes system that drain into Long Pond, including East Pond, North Pond, Salmon Lake, and Great Pond, all of which drain through Long Pond, North Basin and into the South Basin.
A major purpose of our study was to analyze the present land use patterns and their impacts on water quality of Long Pond, South Basin, including the biotic and abiotic parameters which influence it. Other important components of the study included: 1) assessment of the potential for nutrient loading from tributaries and runoff from roads, residential, and other cultural structures and activities, 2) determination of the influence of current and past land use patterns upon lake water quality, and 3) make future projections concerning phosphorus and nutrient levels of Long Pond, South Basin.
Recommended Citation
Problems in Environmental Science course (Biology 493), Colby College and Colby College, "Land Use Patterns in Relation to Lake Water Quality in the Long Pond, South Basin Watershed" (1995). Colby College Watershed Study: Long Pond, South (2007, 1995). 3.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/longpondsouth/3
Included in
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Water Resource Management Commons
Comments
Find or request paper copy from Colby College Libraries.
Publication Date: Spring 1996
Date of Study: Fall 1995